


I Will Adore You to Eternity

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Series: If I stay [36]
Category: Captain Marvel (2019)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Love, One Big Happy Family, Ramvers Wedding, True Love, Wedding Fluff, Weddings, so much love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-16 09:50:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18518980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: "It is my greatest honor today to preside over the union of these two beautiful souls."The Ramvers wedding you have all been waiting for!





	1. A Marriage of Equals

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! It's the wedding!!!  
> Actually, you guys are either going to hate me or love me, but today I was supposed to write both the wedding and the reception, except that the wedding went on for too long. So you'll have to wait for the reception tomorrow! More wedding for everyone, I guess.  
> Anyway, I haven't been to a wedding since I was 12, and I can only assume that French weddings are different from US weddings, so my only point of reference was TV/movie weddings. It's also the first time I wrote a wedding in a story, I realized. I wrote four different proposal story but somehow this was the first wedding...  
> Well, as usual, I hope you enjoy it and I'll see you tomorrow for the second part!

Carol was running around like the most anxious headless chicken in the world. No matter how much her friends told her everything was going exactly according to plan, she couldn't help but fuss over everything. All the benches and chairs and the flower arch at the altar had been installed in the garden, and a collection of large circular tables had been placed near Maria's old workshop. The caterer was already there and ready to serve the aperitif to the two hundred guests already there – how the hell did they manage to find two hundred people to attend their wedding?! Carol still didn't know.

  
"Carol?"

  
She turned around quickly and found Steve wearing a light blue tuxedo. She'd never noticed before how his entire upper body was kind of shaped like a tortilla chip.

  
"Everyone is here, we can start whenever you're ready."

  
"I'm ready," she said, readjusting the jacket of her blue Air Force suit.

  
The number of people wearing military suits was going to be absolutely off the roof. The only reason Steve wasn't wearing his was that it was in a museum.

  
"Yeah, I'm ready. I don't know if Maria is though..."

  
She really wanted to go check. It itched her to go and see. But she knew if she even tried to go up the stairs, Monica was going to kick her back down.

  
"I can go check it out if you want to?" he suggested.

  
"Yes, yes, go and check, please!"

  
He chuckled, but before moving on, he placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place.

  
"Don't forget to breathe, Carol. I'm sure everything is going to be fine."

  
"Oh, I'm not worried that it's not going to be fine. I'm worried about which spectacular way everything is going to go sideways."

  
Steve gave her another look of comfort, and Carol sighed longly, her nervousness deflating slightly.

  
"I'll go check on Fury, make sure he's ready."

  
He walked toward the house, and Carol walked past the rows of seats, and all the way to the arch at the end of it. Fury was standing there in a black tuxedo, looking at a piece of paper.

  
"Fury, are you ready?" she called out.

  
He looked up from the paper.

  
"Technically, yes."

  
"Technically? I don't like to hear you say that..."

  
He huffed and looked at her annoyingly:

  
"I'm just rehearsing to make sure I don't forget anything."

  
When he saw Carol pale just a little, he added quickly:

  
"I'm not going to forget anything! Relax, Carol, seriously, you're stressing everyone out!"

  
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll feel better once this whole thing is over."

  
Tony came to join their conversation. He was wearing a cream suit with a purple tie, his usual sunglasses perched on his nose.

  
"The caterer and the florists have been paid. Now, don't be surprised if I give a twenty-minute speech after dinner."

  
"Thank you, Tony. Any news on Thor?"

  
Both he and Fury shook their heads.

  
"You sure he's coming?"

  
"I don't know? I flew all the way to Asgard to give him his invitation, but they told me he was off planet. Maybe he hasn't returned yet."

  
"I'm sure he's just busy," Tony replied. "Doesn't seem like his style to miss a party."

  
"Well, let's just hope the Bifrost doesn't open in the middle of the ceremony..."

  
Steve hurriedly walked up to the altar and said:

  
"She's ready."

  
Adrenaline shot through Carol's body like never before.

  
"You have the ring?" she mumbled back.

  
Steve nodded. After it had become clear that Goose could not be a decent ring bearer, they had forgone the ring bearer altogether. Steve had the ring she had to give to Maria, and Monica had the other one.

  
"Okay... Let's do this?"

* * *

  
  
As they had planned, Carol and her maid-of-honor went back into the house, while Tony informed everyone that the ceremony was going to start. Natasha joined them a few seconds later after she'd found Wanda. Nat was wearing a light blue dress, the same color as Steve's tuxedo, her long red hair loose on her shoulders. Wanda was wearing a dark red dress and her hair had been braided. She picked up the flower basket, full of pink rose petals which the florist had given them a full bag of.

  
"Carol? Is it okay if Lily helps me?"

  
Carol was about to say that she didn't need anyone's help to spread flowers over the aisle, then her brain passed through the stress and she remembered who Lily was.

  
"Yeah, of course."

  
Wanda peeked out of the door and the little Lily Barton came running inside, in a pretty pink dress.

  
"I can be a flower girl?" she asked excitedly.

  
Carol smiled at her.

  
"Of course."

  
To her surprise, Lily hugged her. This seemed to dissipate her nerves a little. Beside her, Nat said:

  
"I thought you didn't want to give me a hug because you didn't want to crumble your pretty dress?"

  
"I don't want to crumble your pretty dress too, Auntie Nat!"

  
"Fine, but I want my hugs later!"

  
Lily giggled. Outside, everyone seemed to have taken their place, and the music started playing. Wanda took Lily's hand and the basket, and together they walked out and started spreading flowers all over the aisle. Lily was really into it, as she picked up massive handfuls of pedals and threw them over her head, making everyone else giggle.

  
Once they were almost at the altar Carol walked out, followed by her bridesmaids. Natasha was a bit bumped that she didn't have a flower bouquet to hold, but Steve had offered her his arm in consolation. Meanwhile, ahead of them, Carol was walking very stiffly, her back straight like it hadn't been since the Academy. She came to stand in front of Fury and he whispered:

  
"You should have left the broom in the closet."

  
She glared at him. Steve and Natasha came to stand beside her, on the right. Carol took a deep breath. She heard all the seats creak as everyone turned around to see Maria walk down the aisle. Her heart was beating so loudly in her ears she couldn't even hear the music. She turned around, slowly, just her head at first, then her shoulders, until she was fully standing with her back to the altar and staring.

  
Maria was also wearing her Air Force suit because it was what they had agreed on. A wedding of equals. However, Carol did not remember that suit looking so well on her. A crown of flowers had been braided into her short hair. She was smiling back at Carol so brightly, it made Carol want to cry out of pure happiness. She had to hold in her tears because the ceremony had not even begun. She had a bouquet of white flowers in her hands. Monica was right behind her, also wearing her uniform, with tiny flowers braided in her hair.

  
She stopped right beside Carol before she had even realized what was going on. She handed her bouquet to Monica, who stood to their left. Carol's hands were itching to take Maria's, but she knew she had to wait, at least until Fury was done doing the introduction to the ceremony. She looked over at Maria with a massive smile on her lips. Maria smiled back. Her brain was screaming at her that she should say something, compliment her, by god say something, Carol! Her voice was probably gone at this point. Also, there was a very high probability that her heart had flat-lined.

  
"Good morning everyone!" Fury's booming voice called her back to reality. "It is my greatest honor today to preside over the union of these two beautiful souls."

  
He smiled at them both and it almost didn't register in Carol's mind that Fury was smiling, until it was too late and he had stopped smiling, and she couldn't tease him about it because, well, this was supposed to be a serious moment.

  
"Now today I heard that the brides wanted to write their own vows. I said 'Good for you, less work for me'."

  
Everyone in the assembly chuckled. Carol rolled her eyes. She turned to face Maria, and she took her hands in hers without a second thought. They stared at each other for a moment. Carol suddenly realized they hadn't decided who would say their vows first.

  
"Hmm... Do you..."

  
"I can..."

  
They hesitantly mumbled to each other before giggling nervously, while everyone continued to chuckle.

  
"I'll start, okay?" Maria said.

  
Carol nodded. Maria licked her lips reflectively, then started:

  
"Carol, you've been my best friend for over thirty years now. That's most of our lives. You've always been there to support me, every time I needed you. When people thought I couldn't be a good pilot, when they thought I couldn't be a good mother, you were always there to punch them in the face."

  
Everyone chuckled, even Carol. She was also crying already, but it didn't seem to bother her at all.

  
"I don't think a lot of people know that we started dating when I was something like eight months pregnant. Everyone had given up on me, I had given up on myself, I was just ready to quit the army and spend the rest of my life taking care of that baby, but you told me that I was gorgeous, and nothing would ever be impossible for me. That's when your tongue slipped. You said 'Any girl would be lucky to have you'."

  
"Subtlety was never my thing..." Carol replied bashfully.

  
"I'm very glad it never was," Maria replied quickly. "Because together we raised a beautiful daughter, and I know I never would have wanted to do it without you. I'm not saying that it was never hard, especially after the accident, but, even when I had lost hope of ever seeing you again, there was something of you in Monica, and maybe that's why she never gave up. But you came back, and I realized how I had never stopped loving you, not for a second. I think you told me once that love was all you wanted, that love was enough. I gave you all the love I could give you for the past thirty years. I gave you all my strength, all my love,..."

  
"And a daughter," Monica added.

  
They laughed, and Carol suddenly remembered that there were a whole lot of people beside them.

  
"So this is my promise to you, Carol. I will never stop loving you, and I will support you in all of your dangerous trips, even if they lead you to the other side of the galaxy. I will never give up on you because I know that you will always come back to me. Always."

  
Carol let go of Maria's hand just long enough to brush all the tears out of her eyes. Maria was on the verge of tears too, but not there yet.

  
"Guess now we know who's the strongest of the two of us..." Carol joked as she cleaned her face.

  
"Oh god, it's my turn right? Okay. Hmm... I already promised you a ton of things. I kind of feel like we're married already, and this is just a formality, but I still wanted to repeat all the promises I ever did to you. I promised that I would always love you and that I would always protect you and Monica. That was before the accident. After, I promised I would always love again because I felt I needed to say it again. I promised that I would be careful, and always come back to you. I haven't broken this one yet. I promised you would always come first. And yeah, I could promise all of this to you again, but then I had a better idea."

  
Carol pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and unfolded it, holding it with one hand. Everyone watched her do with interest, especially Maria.

  
"See, in the past thirty years or so we made a ton of friends. I wish I could say that all of these friends are here today. I mean, a whole bunch to them are, but there are a few who couldn't make it. So when I flew to our Skrull friends to give them the invitation, Talos told me they didn't want to crash our wedding. He gave me his blessings though, whatever that means, and he gave me this. It's the typical vows for a Skrull wedding, he told me. I kind of like them, so I thought I would read them to you if that's okay?"

  
Maria nodded while trying to hide her smile. A few tears were rolling down her cheeks and she brushed them quickly. Carol looked at the paper on which she had scribbled the vows. Her hand was shaking so violently that the letters seemed to dance in front of her eyes. She took a deep, steadying breath, then started reading:

  
"You cannot possess me for I belong to myself, but while we both wish it, I give you that which is mine to give. You cannot command me, for I am a free person, but I shall serve you in those ways you require and the T'manja berries will taste sweeter coming from my hand."

  
She paused, trying to read through the rest.

  
"T'manja berries are like strawberries, guys, get over it!" she mumbled as she tried to find the right line. "Here goes..."

  
She almost dared a glance at Maria, but then she knew if she did she would completely forget what she was supposed to say. Instead, she continued:

  
"I pledge to you that yours will be the name I cry aloud in the night and the eyes into which I smile in the morning. I pledge to you the first bite from my meat and the first drink from my cup. I pledge to you my living and dying, equally in your care, and tell no strangers our grievances. This is my wedding vows to you. This is a marriage of equals."

  
She finally looked up from her trembling paper and found Maria weeping just as much as her, but smiling just as much too.

  
"Let's now proceed to the exchange of the rings," Fury said.

  
Carol felt a hand on her shoulder, and she would have glared at Steve if he wasn't handing her the ring. She picked it up carefully, afraid to drop it as she'd never been of afraid of anything before. She slid it around her Maria's finger, and the simple golden band fitted perfectly. At the moment, it didn't occur to Carol that it was because it was tailor-made, she just thought it was meant to be.

  
When Maria placed the ring around her finger, she found the feeling of having this cold ring on her hand very strange. She knew it would warm up quickly, but still. It was lighter than she had imagined.

  
"By the powers invested in me by an official website, I now finally pronounce these two lovebirds married. You may kiss the bride."

  
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Carol said before she placed one hand on the back of Maria's neck and the other on her shoulder, bringing her close. Maria placed her hands on Carol's waist. Their first kiss as a married couple didn't feel any different to the millions of others they had shared. It still made Carol's heart fluster, still made her never want to pull away. As they kissed, the entire crowd erupted into cheers, and a shower of applause echoed in the garden. When they finally pulled apart, the entire crowd was taking pictures. Fury came to stand between the two of them, and with a smile, he whispered:

  
"Congratulations you two."


	2. Kiss Me Deadly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding reception, where everyone seemed to have a speech to give and surprises await at every turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God, this reception! Twice the amount of pages I usually write for these one-shots! I mean, I could have cut it in half and make this story into three part, but there are only so many days I'm willing to devote to a wedding!  
> Anyway, last night I went to see Shazam, and I'm happy to say the DCEU is back on track! That means twice as many good superhero movies for us per year, which is always very exciting!  
> Also, should we talk about that Audi ad with Brie Larson they just released? If you haven't seen it yet just go watch it, it's like, three minutes long you can just come back and read the story later!  
> As usual, I hope you enjoy and I'll see you tomorrow for the honeymoon!

Carol had made sure everything was going fine and everyone had something to drink before she ran inside the house to get changed. Air Force uniforms had not been made for the warm humid air of Louisiana. She'd already ditched her jacket, carrying it over her shoulder as she walked around the garden, and as she ran up the stairs to her bedroom she also started to untie her bow-tie. She only dreamed of taking off her shirt and pants for the dress she'd bought for the reception.

  
That dream flew out the window when she walked into her bedroom and found Maria trying to zip up her own dress. Bright pink should not look as good on her as it did, but by God, she looked gorgeous. The crown of flowers was still weaved in her hair, but she'd discarded her uniform for a pink strapless cocktail dress, which stopped just above her knees. Carol stared at her naked back as her wife still tried to close off the zip.

  
The sound of Carol's jacket and tie falling to the ground made Maria look behind her.

  
"Carol, perfect, can you zip me, please?"

  
Carol stared some more. Finally, Maria called her again:

  
"Carol?"

  
The blonde cleared her throat and finally moved closer.

  
"Sure..."

  
She took the small zip between two fingers, but instead of zipping up, she pressed a kiss on Maria's back, right over her spine. A long shiver ran down Maria's back.

  
"Carol..." she warned.

  
Still, Carol continued. She zipped the dress a bit higher and pressed another kiss on Maria's back.

  
"That's a very dangerous game you're playing..."

  
Carol smiled against her skin as she placed a third kiss on her spine.

  
"I like to live dangerously."

  
"I noticed..."

  
Carol placed one last kiss on her back before closing off the dress. Then, she kissed between Maria's shoulder blades, the nape of her neck, the side of her neck, her shoulder. Each kiss was purposefully light and teasing, and it made Maria shiver even more.

  
"Carol, we have two hundred guests in the garden..." Maria mumbled, as one of her hands moved behind her and found Carol's shoulder.

  
"They can get drunk without us..." another kiss, more insistent, at the junction between Maria's neck and shoulder. "This dress looks too good on you to stay."

  
Carol's fingers glided back to the zip they had left not a minute ago, as she started to nibble on Maria's throat, lightly, just a tentative graze of her teeth.

  
There was a sharp knock on the door and Carol froze before she could pull the zip down.

  
"I know you two are in there," they heard Monica call through the door. "Just to remind you that everyone is waiting for you for a toast, and Mr. Stark is threatening to come to get you himself if you don't hurry."

  
Carol's head fell against Maria's shoulder, and she sighed. Maria pursed her lips. Finally, she replied:

  
"I'll be out in a minute."

  
"I'll just wait by the door in case you forget me in a minute."

  
Carol sighed again. Finally, Maria stepped away from her and turned around.

  
"You should change before Iron Man takes down the door."

  
For good measure, she unbuttoned the first button of Carol's shirt. As she pulled her hands away, Carol caught them. She brought Maria to her again to give her a kiss on the lips. As they pulled away, Carol gave her one last kiss, on the golden ring around her finger.

  
"Can't wait for the honeymoon," Carol said with a grin.

  
Maria seemed to want to walk to the door, but she stopped, placed one last small kiss on Carol's lips, then almost ran out the door, as if she knew if she didn't run away right now they would lock themselves up in the bedroom for the rest of the day.

  
Carol sighed longly as she watched the door being closed. She finished unbuttoning her shirt, then looked at her dress hanging at the door of the wardrobe. It was a strapless cocktail dress too, just an inch shorter than Maria's, of a dark blue color, with hints of gold on the inside. She placed it on the bed and looked down at it. Now she wasn't as excited about the dress as before.

* * *

  
  
The aperitif lasted well over an hour and a half, time for the newlyweds to talk to just about everyone. Carol felt she was trapped in a repeat of the engagement party, where she'd lost count of how many times she'd heard 'Congratulations', and had probably thanked everyone at least twice.

  
Tony took the mic when it was time for dinner, asking everyone to sit down. Carol anxiously went to sit at the head table, between Maria and Steve. Monica sat down on Maria's side, beside Fury. Natasha took the last seat beside Steve. It was a very small head table, but Carol had had no idea who else to place up there with them. At least twenty round table had been dispersed in front of the table, leaving just enough space in the center for a dance floor.

  
"Has everyone found their place?" Tony asked. "Good."

  
He walked on the dance floor, mic in hand, and continued:

  
"Five years ago during the attack on New York by a group of aliens and a not-so-clever Asgardian, I heard that Captain Carol Danvers here saved my life. Of course I was unconscious so I don't have any proof, but anyway, she claims she saved my life. Five years ago, as a thank you gift, she asked me for a bottle of champagne and a few days of leave with her girlfriend. I never gave her that bottle of champagne and now here we are, five years later, and I'm suddenly paying for a wedding because 'the interest rates are steep, Tony', she said."

  
Everyone laughed.

  
"There's still no proof that she saved my life, but, I'm a man of my word if anything."

  
He turned around and looked at the head table.

  
"Carol, Maria, I know I promised you a twenty minute speech to compensate, but I think your weird alien cat is going to eat the caterers before we get any food, so I'll just say this: You are formidable people, both of you, and you deserve all the love in the world."

  
He picked up his glass and raised it.

  
"To Carol and Maria, our first Avengers power couple."

  
"To Carol and Maria" everyone replied.

  
After taking a sip of his drink, Tony added quickly:

  
"But really you should do something about your cat, I think she's gonna eat one of the waiters."

  
Carol turned around and saw Goose starting intensely at the tables in Maria's workshop where they had installed the caterer.

  
"I'll be right back..."

* * *

  
  
Steve decided to give his speech before the main course because the number of people who were supposed to give a speech was absolutely crazy and even Carol wasn't sure everyone was going to have the time to give one. He stood up from his seat of maid-of-honor and he went to take the microphone.

  
"Hello everyone..."

  
The chatter died down as they heard Captain America himself was going to give a speech.

  
"So, hmm, apparently in my quality of maid-of-honor I have to give a speech. I don't want to hold everyone for too long, I'm sure you are all hungry. I just wanted to say that, in the five or so years since I've met Carol, and she introduced us to Maria, I have had the privilege of seeing first hand the love that they share, and it is heartwarming to see two people so well matched as these two."

  
He stopped himself as if thinking for a moment.

  
"Carol and I have a lot of things in common, in my opinion. Maybe it's why we get along so well. But there is one thing in which we differ. She had the chance to know love and keep it, and build something inspiring with it. It's a chance we all have, and sometimes when we do, we're blind to it. Most of us here are soldiers, we fight wars to keep the peace. Carol and Maria are an inspiration to us all, they show us that sometimes it's good to remember that there are love and happiness in this world, and we should take the time to appreciate them."

  
He left the stand without giving a toast but under a shower of applause. Carol furtively brushed a stray tear out of her eye before Steve came to sit beside her again.

  
"Stupid perfect eloquence..." she muttered as he sat back down.

  
"I didn't too much, did I?" he asked worriedly.

  
Carol huffed but gave him a hug anyway:

  
"It was awesome."

* * *

  
  
Some time between the main course and the desert, Carol took Maria's hand and pulled her out of her chair, saying that she wanted to introduce her to someone. Maria followed her, her curiosity peeked. They stopped in front of one of the tables on the right, occupied by all five of the Bartons and Wanda and Vision. Clint wasn't far from the table, talking with Sam and Maria Hill. Wanda and Vision were playing with Cooper and Lily on the grass, leaving Laura and Nathaniel at the table alone. Carol approached her without hesitation, and Laura smiled up at them.

  
"Congratulations!" Laura said as she saw them.

  
"Thank you," Carol replied. "Here, let me introduce you."

  
She pulled Maria beside her.

  
"Laura, this is my wife, Maria. Maria, this is Laura, Clint's wife."

  
"Hi, thank you for coming," Maria said.

  
"Thank you for inviting me."

  
"Laura suggested you two start a 'wives of Avengers' club," Carol explained. "I'm sure you'll get to include Pepper soon enough!"

  
"I heard that," Tony said from nearby, while beside him Pepper rolled her eyes.

  
"So, I'll let you two talk, and I'm taking baby Barton in hostage."

  
Carol took Nathaniel from Laura's lap, and the baby let himself be taken away by this blonde stranger with a laugh. Carol walked away, cooing at baby Nate, leaving her wife with Laura.

  
"I'm sorry, she has a thing for stealing babies," Maria said as she took the empty chair beside Laura. "She'll bring him back as soon as he starts to cry."

  
"It's okay. It was just a matter of time before someone stole him away, though I was sure Natasha would be the one to do it."

  
Maria turned around to look at Carol, who had taken baby Nate to the head table where he was being passed between her arms and Natasha's every minute or so. Carol saw her looking at them, and she picked up Nate again. She took his little hand in hers and made him wave at her. Maria couldn't help but smile.

  
"So, Carol told me she pulled you through every nightmare imaginable," Laura started.

  
"Don't even get me started," Maria replied. "She's the biggest trouble-magnet in the universe. That's probably how she caught me in the first place..."

* * *

  
  
The cutting of the cake was a show unto itself. Carol did everything she could to flip the slices of cakes on the plates while making as much of a mess as possible. Once everyone had had at least a slice of wedding cake, Carol stood up. It surprised Maria, who had been just about to dig into her own slice.

  
"Where are you going?" she whispered.

  
"You'll see," Carol said with a wink.

  
She went up to the mic and called for the guests' attention.

  
"Hey everyone! I hope you're having a good time. I wanted to take this time to say a few words."

  
She picked up the mic and walked onto the dance floor to stand in front of the head table.

  
"When I was a kid and I asked my mom why weddings were so important, she probably answered me with something dumb, you know, how it's what you do when you're in love or something. But I remember her telling me about the first dance. She said: 'The first dance is not going to be with your husband. You have to do the first dance with your father, and then you can dance with your husband.' Well, my father was an asshole and now he's dead, so I guess to have my first dance with my wife instead."

  
Everyone cheered, and Carol placed the mic on the table as she turned around to look at Maria, who was frozen in her chair.

  
"What do you say?" Carol said as she held out her hand.

  
"You're serious?"

  
"Well I was, but since you don't seem as enthusiastic about it as me..."

  
Maria stood up and rounded the table quickly, as to not let Carol hanging for too long. Carol took her hand and led her to the middle of the dance floor under thunderous applause. Once they were in position, Carol looked over at the computer taking care of the music.

  
"Hit it, FRIDAY!"

  
The music started, a slow piano melody. However, Maria quickly recognized the lyrics, though she wasn't sure who was singing this version.

  
"Is that Kiss Me Deadly?" she asked as they started to dance.

  
Carol nodded against her shoulder. Maria smiled.

  
"Who's singing? I don't recognize this version."

  
Carol blushed deeply.

  
"Well, I couldn't find any slow version so, hmm... FRIDAY helped me a little..."

  
Maria focused again on the voice singing. She was so used to hearing Carol singing at least once a day, even if it was just a few notes, that she hadn't recognized her voice now that it was arranged over the piano. Maria pressed a quick kiss on Carol's lips, ignoring all the people cheering in the background as her dark eyes found Carol's.

  
"It's perfect."

  
"Glad you like it..." Carol mumbled with embarrassment.

  
They continued to twirl on the dance floor almost lazily. They were standing close, their eyes locked. Carol's arm was on Maria's shoulder, while Maria was holding her by her waist. Their other hands were entwined, trapped between the two of them on Maria's collarbone.

  
"Do you want me to tell you why I chose this song?" Carol asked quietly.

  
"Besides the fact that it was always your favorite to sing at Pancho's?"

  
"It was the first time I remembered you."

  
"After the accident?"

  
Carol nodded.

  
"When I was strapped to Talos' machine and he was going through my brain, this was the song I heard when I first saw glimpses of you again."

  
Maria placed another soft kiss on Carol's lips.

  
"Well, it has always been kind of our song."

* * *

  
  
The song seemed to end faster than either Carol nor Maria had realized, but suddenly the music was replaced by cheers and applause, and Carol and Maria found themselves almost forced to move apart. Carol could have stayed on that dance floor for the rest of the day and she would have been fine. However, Monica took the mic and said:

  
"Moms, I don't want to burst your bubble but it's already four p. m. and I haven't made my speech yet. If you don't mind seating back down?"

  
"Why the hurry?" Carol asked with a smile.

  
"Because the list of people who were supposed to make a speech at your wedding was almost as long as the list of guests," Monica replied.

  
Everyone chuckled as Maria led Carol back to their seat. Monica took their place on the dance floor.

  
"Anyway, for all of you who don't know who I am, I'm Maria and Carol's daughter. Things could have been different, though. For a long time, I wasn't Carol's daughter. I called her Auntie Carol, and it didn't strike me until I was fifteen that there was absolutely no reason for me to call her anything but mom. However, no one was supposed to know, even I was not supposed to know, so I continued to call her Auntie Carol, for a while at least."

  
She paused, looking back at her mothers. They were holding hands, listening to her attentively.

  
"I couldn't have dreamed for better parents, really. Supportive parents, always there to help me even when they had a lot of work. Loving parents, even if they hid things from me, I know it wasn't because they didn't trust me. All of my friends had married parents and brothers and sisters, and a dog. I had my mom, Auntie Carol, and a flerken, and I wouldn't have changed that for anything."

  
She smiled at them and they smiled back, visibly on the verge of tears once again.

  
"I was the first to suggest that they should get married, back in 2003, when it became legal in Canada. Their reactions were definitely not what I had expected. Maria told me 'we don't have enough friends, organizing a wedding would be a waste of money'."

  
Monica looked back at the room as they chuckled. Even Maria laughed when she realized how wrong she had been at the time.

  
"Carol freaked out because 'love was for dumb people afraid to end up alone'. I'm very glad they both changed their points of view on the subject because even if I had to wait almost thirteen years since that moment, I finally had the family wedding I wanted to see."

  
Everyone applauded, but Monica wasn't done yet.

  
"Now, some of you may know that I'm my mom's maid-of-honor. She asked me if I could help her prepare something for today. So last month I went back here to search what she had asked me to find for the surprise. On the exact same day that I went, my other mom also happened to be there, looking for the exact same things. So, she asked me if I could take care of it for her. And somehow I got roped into making the exact same surprise for both of my moms."

  
Carol looked at Maria in shock. She had completely forgotten about the video montage. Maria was just as surprised as her. Everyone else was laughing again.

  
"So without further ado, this is a video montage of my parents in the past thirty-two years of their lives together. FRIDAY?"

  
Monica stepped away and a holographic screen appeared over the dance floor, facing the head table. The video started with images Carol had become all-too-familiar with. The hospital. Monica in her plastic cradle. Maria in the hospital bed.

  
"Are you filming?"

  
"Hey, I spent $300 on this baby, I'm going to use it as much as possible!"

  
"Then why are you filming me?"

  
"Because you're gorgeous, obviously!"

  
There were pictures of Carol and Maria with baby Monica intersperse with videos. Most of the videos Carol already knew by heart. Most of the pictures she could remember them being taken. It didn't stop her from weeping like a fountain after less than a minute.

  
More pictures and videos followed, of Carol and Maria's graduation. Their time at PEGASUS. There was one last video before the accident, of Monica's first day at school, with Maria leading her to the front gate. Then, a few seconds of black, which Carol knew exactly what it was supposed to imply. Then more pictures came. Of Carol after her return. Of the small happy family. Pictures of Carol with Fury. Pictures of Carol and Maria. Pictures of the couple with Carol's mom. Finally came the picture of New Year 2000, the one Carol always carried around with her. Pictures of Monica's graduation. Of the years leading to the Avengers. A video of Carol's return after the battle of New York, of her sweeping Maria off her feet to kiss her. And on and on it went, until the present day. The last video was from the engagement party, of the two of them talking to everyone, side-hugging. The video ended with the words 'To be continued...'

  
As the screen disappeared and everyone applauded Monica's work, both Maria and Carol turned to Monica. Both of their faces were wet with tears of joy. Maria took Monica in her arms, and Carol stood from her chair just to hug them both.

  
"Thank you," Maria whispered to her daughter.

  
"It's nothing."

  
"It's everything," Carol assured her.

* * *

  
  
The sun would be setting soon, yet still, all 200 guests were occupying the garden. At this rate, Carol thought, they would be leaving for their honeymoon before everyone else left the reception. She was pulled out of her thoughts about planning and time zones by a tap on the microphone, and the music cutting slowly.

  
"I know you people must be tired of speeches, but I was promised the chance to say a few words, so if you'll indulge an old man."

  
They all turned to look over at Fury, who looked pretty determined to make his speech.

  
"When I first met Carol I was called because a girl had just crashed through the roof of a Blockbuster and the guy who called said she looked like she was dressed for laser tag. As it turned out, this would be the beginning of one of the most amazing adventures I've ever had the pleasure of going on. And it led us right here, over twenty years ago. To the last person who had seen a mysterious pilot before a plane crash, and her ten-year-old daughter."

  
He paused, almost enjoying how people were paying the utmost attention to every word he spoke.

  
"You two asked me to officiate your wedding because you said you wouldn't have found each other without me. I mean, it's a fact, Carol would still be flying around looking for Louisiana without me right now. But if there's one thing I'm sure off, it's that you would have found each other again without me. I don't know a damn thing in this galaxy that can keep you two apart. You've made yourself a nice little family, despite the odds, despite what everyone could ever do to stop you from trying to exist. And it's an honor for me to be considered even just a distant member of your family."

  
Carol shook her head quickly. She jumped out of her chair and stomped over to where Fury was standing. She quickly took the mic out of his hands:

  
"I'd like everyone here to know that Fury is basically the family's uncle, that one uncle who works all the time and pretends he doesn't care but still brings way too many presents for his little niece."

  
If Fury seemed angry that Carol had crashed his speech, his anger melted away when she hugged him.

  
"You're part of the family, Fury. We're never letting you go."

  
He hugged her back with an earnest smile. As they separated, Carol saw Fury's smile. She still had the microphone in hands, she could tease him if she wanted to. Instead, she heard Maria calling her.

  
"Carol?"

  
"What?"

  
Maria was holding up her phone, on a video on the official twitter page for the Avengers. Both Carol and Fury moved closer to the phone, to see the video more clearly. It was a video of the moment they had said their vows, specifically, the end of Carol's Skrull vows. The tweet going with the video said: 'Captain Marvel's wedding. Everyone is crying'. Carol analyzed the angle of the camera quickly, though really, just the fact that only one of them used the account often had betrayed him.

  
"Tony!" she called out.

  
"I'm just giving the fan what they want!" he replied from his seat, not afraid.

  
"Mom, look at all the replies," Monica said.

  
Carol took the phone and scrolled down the videos. Among an array of hearts of every color imaginable and rainbow flags, there were a lot of people who had apparently cried when they'd seen the video, and a lot of people emotionally moved.

  
"Wow..." Carol let out. "I guess people like it."

  
"Like it is not how you describe 360.000 views," Monica replied.

  
Carol looked over at Tony.

  
"Guess you get to live another day," she said.

  
He shrugged.

  
"That's enough for me."

* * *

  
  
Carol didn't want to throw everyone out, but the time of their departure on honeymoon was getting closer and people still seemed to want to party. Monica assured her that she could take care of everyone, with the rest of the Avengers help, and they shouldn't worry. And so Carol went to fetch they traveling bags in their room to bring it to the Quinjet they would borrow. It was parked in a corner of the propriety, and by the time Carol got there, she found that someone – probably Tony, maybe Clint and Natasha had helped – had tagged the jet with pink paint, marking 'Just Married' and 'Lesbians in Space' on the sides and door. She sighed and went inside to place their bags.

  
As she walked out, she found Steve waiting there for her. He'd discarded his jacket and tie some time during the party, probably to the benefit of the many single ladies.

  
"Maria wanted me to let you know that she was going to throw the bouquet before leaving. They're waiting for you."

  
"Oh, the bouquet, I had almost forgotten."

  
They walked back to the reception. Carol was so tired, she was almost tempted to sleep in the Quinjet. But she was the only one who knew where they were going, so no sleeping for her.

  
"I can't speak for 21st-century wedding standard, but everyone seemed to have a good time," Steve said.

  
"Yeah, I suppose the last few months of stress were worth it."

  
She sighed longly. Then, she asked:

  
"Are you sure you don't mind me leaving for two whole weeks?"

  
"You deserve them, Carol, really."

  
"I know. Just... with Rumlow reappearing last week..."

  
"I think we can handle one mercenary and his minions."

  
She nodded. Then, she stopped and held out her hand.

  
"In any case, thank you for being my maid-of-honor today. You did a much better job than what Natasha would have probably done."

  
Steve chuckled. He took her hand in his and shook it with all his strength, without being afraid of hurting her.

  
"See you in two weeks."

  
"See you in two weeks," she agreed.

  
Carol walked back to the dance floor, where Maria was waiting for her, facing a crowd of at least twenty women, among which were Pepper, Maria Hill, Natasha, Wanda, and Monica.

  
"Nat, why are you even going for the bouquet?"

  
The redhead shrugged.

  
"I just want to prove that it's completely fake and the next person to catch the bouquet won't get married."

  
Carol shrugged in turn. She came to stand beside her wife.

  
"Alright, let's get this over with so we can start our honeymoon."

  
"Someone's excited."

  
"If you knew where we were going, you'd be excited too."

  
She picked up Maria bride style with incredible ease, and floated just two feet over the ground, before turning around.

  
"Ready?" she asked, loudly enough for all the women under them to hear her.

  
Maria took the bouquet with both hands and threw it as high as she could. It fell back to the ground with grace, only to arrive right in the hands of one Pepper Potts, making Tony choke on his drink.

* * *

  
  
After saying goodbye to everyone and hugging Monica for a good minute, they walked inside the Quinjet. Carol took the piloting seat and Maria the co-pilot seat. As Carol turned on the engine and did the last little checks, Maria asked:

  
"So, are you finally going to tell me where we are going?"

  
"Do I have to? I really want to keep this a surprise."

  
"It's been pretty shrouded in mystery so far, that's for sure. I mean, you borrowed a Quinjet, you wouldn't let me pack... I hope you didn't forget anything."

  
"I didn't."

  
Carol paused, thinking for a second.

  
"I didn't!"

  
She rolled the Quinjet around until it was on the road, and they took off swiftly. They flew up and up, and to Maria's surprise, they didn't stop going up. Even after they passed over the clouds and reached a normal flight altitude, they continued to climb.

  
"Carol? Are we going to space?"

  
Carol grinned.

  
"Before you freak out, this Quinjet can go in space. Tony helped me modify it, and I tested it a couple of times. It's completely safe."

  
"Well, the last time I took a Quinjet to space I was almost flushed into space, but I suppose this time we're not going toward trouble."

  
"We are running away from trouble, promise. It's going to be peace and quiet for two weeks."

  
Maria leaned in the co-pilot seat to place a kiss on Carol's cheek. Then, she curled into her seat.

  
"Wake me up when we get there."

  
Carol looked over at her wife, all curled up against the leather seat, with a bright smile.

  
"With pleasure."

**Author's Note:**

> The Skrull wedding vows are actually Traditional Celtic vows I found on Pinterest a while back and have been dying to put to good use.  
> And if you are bumped that there was no pretty dress today, they will change into dresses tomorrow for the reception.


End file.
